The Israeli Prime Minister says he has ordered the army to take over most of Gaza
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he ordered the Israeli army to take over most of Gaza, initially by taking 70 percent of the Palestinian territory, where people are already concentrated in a small area along the coast.
Israel effectively controls about 64% of the small coastal area, which was devastated by the two-year Israeli military offensive following the 2023 Hamas offensive in southern Israel.
Under the October US peace deal that failed to stop Israeli attacks or secure Hamas's disarmament, Israeli forces were meant to withdraw from the “Yellow Line” that establishes the extent of their control. Marked on military maps, that line put Israel in control of about 53 percent of Gaza, with Hamas controlling the rest.
Reuters reported that Israel independently moved concrete blocks marking the Yellow Line down into Hamas-controlled territory. Maps released by the military in March show a much larger restricted area that analysts say covers 64 percent of Gaza's total territory.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said in public statements that the military controls more than 60 percent of Gaza. Speaking at a conference in the West Bank, the Israeli leader said that most of Gaza will be taken.
“We were in the 50s, we moved to the 60s. My order is to move forward – let's go step by step,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.
“First, 70. Let's start there. We press them [Hamas] on all sides. We will deal with the rest.”
Israel escalates strikes in Gaza
Netanyahu describes Israel's occupation of Gaza, Syria and Lebanon as “safe havens” that could prevent a possible attack after the October 7, 2023 attack led by Hamas that started the Gaza war.
Palestinians view Israel's expanding enclave in Gaza as part of a plan to remove them permanently, pointing to statements by senior ministers, including Defense Chief Israel Katz, who say they want to encourage “voluntary migration” from Gaza.
Netanyahu's order comes as Israel escalates its offensive in Gaza, saying it is targeting senior Hamas leaders who were involved in the 2023 attack. On Tuesday, Israel killed a senior Hamas official, ten days after killing his predecessor.
Israel said it killed Mohammad Odeh, the new commander of Hamas' military wing, in an airstrike in Gaza. Odeh's predecessor was also killed a few days earlier. Health officials in Gaza said Tuesday's strike killed six people and injured more than 20.
Health officials in Gaza said another strike on Wednesday night that Israel said targeted two Hamas leaders killed at least 10 people, including five children, and injured 18 others.
The strike came as Palestinians celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which many in Gaza celebrated by gathering together in tented settlements and bombed areas.
Etidal Al-Za'im said he was with his family inside their tent celebrating the holiday when suddenly the debris of the strike that targeted a building near them fell on them.
“We left when we heard the sound of an explosion. We stayed for an hour before we left [rubble] he found a way out of the tent,” he said.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 900 people since the ceasefire began, health officials said, while Israel said four soldiers were killed by soldiers during the same period. Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in talks to advance a US plan in Gaza that would see Israeli troops withdraw and Hamas disarm.
Another man who witnessed the Israeli strike on Wednesday, who identified himself as Abu Azam, said “the people of Gaza are not safe at all.”
They may be beaten on the street, beaten at home, beaten at the hospital, beaten on the way to the market,” said Abu Azam.
